MUMBAI: Sahara supremo Subrata Roy on Wednesday dropped hints that powerful interests were at play to bring him down and claimed that his personal assets were less than Rs 5 crore — a number that could splash cold water on the regulator's plan to freeze Roy's bank accounts and assets to refund investors.

"A few people who were powerful in 2005 had tried to crush Sahara...they are back and again doing it now," Roy told ET on Wednesday when asked whether Sahara's plight can be partly attributed to the present political situation.

Roy, who refused to name anyone, is known for his proximity to some of the powerful cow-belt politicians whose relationships with the Congress have soured. But what came as a surprise to many was Roy's declaration about his personal assets.

"Mera personal assets jaanke unko (Sebi) pareshani hui hogi," Roy told reporters while stepping out of the Sebi office after an hour-long meeting with senior officials of the capital market regulator. Sebi had asked Subrata Roy and three other directors to appear before the regulator in a high-profile case involving refund of Rs 24,000 crore to three crore investors.

While Sahara claims that only one-tenth of the money is left to repaid, Sebi thinks otherwise. "We've givenRs 5,000 crore to Sebi, additionally we have to bear all the other expenses... but in this one hour (meeting), they didn't even offer us a cup of tea," said Roy smiling at reporters and camera crew, appearing unruffled despite multiple court feuds and allegations.

Sebi official asked Roy whether he would like to add to the list of personal assets. "My gold ornaments and stones are worth about Rs 3 crore. Cash and bank balance is Rs 34 lakh and fixed deposits is Rs 1.59 crore.

And for buying a sugar mill I had taken an advance of Rs 11 crore. My immovable property is nil," Subrata Roy briefed the media after his appearance before the regulator.

Roy told ET that there is no family trust which owns any asset. "My wife owns an apartment in Gurgaon and my son recently bought a plot in Goa...That's all. There's nothing more," he said over the telephone.

Earlier in the day he told reporters that he had nothing to add to the list of assets. Sebi had asked Roy and three other directors to submit all the details regarding their movable and immovable assets situated in India and aboard on April 8.

Asked whether the recent Sahara ad blitz in the midst of legal proceedings could be construed as a contempt of court, Roy said, "What do you do when you are pushed to the wall?" At sharp 3 pm on Wednesday, Roy, along with the other three executives — Ashok Roy Choudhary, Ravi Shankar Dubey and Vandana Bhargava — entered Sebi Bhavan at Bandra-Kurla Complex. He came in awhite Mercedes Benz, with armed security personnel in separate vehicles.

He met Sebi's whole-time member Prashant Saran who had signed on most of the Sahara orders issued by Sebi. "I requested them to kindly look into these two things (verification and paying investors) seriously. Until the verification is complete, our money will be stuck with them. Sebi is not taking any action on that front. Start the verification so that the money can be released. I requested that people from both Sebi and Sahara should sit together so that the process of verification speeds up," Roy said. He added that one of the points raised by the Supreme Court in its order was about the accounts being fictitious. "But unless you verify the accounts, how will you know? I've requested them to start the verification, but I don't know what will happen ahead... Even the complainant who triggered the whole thing (dispute with Sebi) does not exist," he said.

The personal hearing comes at a time, when Subrata Roy and the other directors have challenged the regulator's order attaching their movable and immovable assets before the Securities Appellate Tribunal. The appeal is scheduled for hearing later this week on April 13.

Sebi has till now frozen around Rs 20 crore belonging to the two Sahara companies. Roy said that the court has not authorised Sebi to freeze his personal assets. Only assets of the two companies in question — Sahara India Real Estate (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp (SHICL) — can be seized by the regulator.